Opening Night: Mike Giant’s “Modern Hieroglyphics” at FFDG

Last weekend Mike Giant opened his solo exhibition at FFDG in San Francisco titled “Modern Hieroglyphics.” Plenty braved the rain to get a peek at some of Giant’s new work. Standing at the cross section of illustration and tattoo art, Giant’s drawings cover everything from pop and consumer culture to underground punk and hip-hop.

Created with simply a Sharpie, Giant’s work is not only incredibly clean but endlessly fascinating. Hand-written notes and secret messages decorate the edges of each piece along with notes on what the artist was listening to during the creation of the work. Metal, punk and hip-hop countercultures all come together on a single page to create something almost propagandistic.

“I started to look at modern tattoo designs as well as corporate and band logos as ‘modern hieroglyphics,'” Giant commented. “I thought a lot about how the symbols of our time would be objectively translated by future generations. And instead of trying to explain it, I made drawings to codify the symbolic language of our time for future observers to translate for themselves.”

Mike Giant’s show is on view until March 8. Check out some opening night photos below.